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The Joys of (Re)Playing Guild Wars 2

Life isn't just about combat in Tyria, and it's all the better for it.

A funny thing happened when the beta servers for Guild Wars 2 went down for the final time late Sunday night: I realized I wasn't bored. Usually by this point in an MMORPG beta I'm slightly nauseated at the idea of starting yet another new character from scratch and rehashing the same content I've explored for months for previews and editorials; by then, nothing makes me happier than the thought of zooming past the starting zones and savoring the meat of the midgame. But not with Guild Wars 2. There I was, equipped with a goofy grin and a determination to play until the connection error locked up my client. And for me, at least, that seems like a good thing. I can't make any real predictions about Guild Wars 2's endgame right now, but I'm happy to report that it already promises more replayability than most of its competition.

ArenaNet has walloped the difficulty with a brutal swipe of the Nerf bat.

Oh, sure, there are issues. I could tell from the way my Norn Ranger shrugged off his foes that ArenaNet had walloped the difficulty with a brutal swipe of the Nerf bat since the previous beta weekend (at least for the opening 10 levels or so). The dodge mechanic seemed cosmetic at best in light of the changes, and I hate to say it, but the shift made The Secret World's combat seem more fulfilling at times. ArenaNet's record thus far hints that they'll likely heed complaints like mine and come up with something approaching a happy medium by release, but as it stands, it's as if ArenaNet ditched one of their game's finest qualities in the name of a misguided stab at wide accessibility.

Filling in the Blank Spaces

But despite the hint of troubles, I still I felt like an awed wanderer instead of a jaded native in my travels through Tyria. Whatever the (hopefully) temporary limitations of the combat, the world itself still begs for replays. There's always some new surprise in store, I've found; some quest or dynamic I haven't seen before because I didn't venture over a certain hill the previous time I passed through. What's more, I actually care about finding them. That's true enough of the sprawling Human, Charr, and Norn zones already available, but ArenaNet unleashed new possibilities by finally allowing us to experience the Tyria through the eyes of the diminutive Asura and the leafy Sylvari. Their potential for repeat plays is staggering. After almost half a year of dipping in and out of Guild Wars 2, I still haven't seen all the existing starting zones have to offer, and venturing into the new zones felt almost like journeying into a new game.

Both zones managed to take potentially stereotypical concepts and turn them into memorable and fairly unique experiences.

I admit I'd worried that both zones would be garbage. Until now, ArenaNet's kept both zones and races muffled under a cloak of secrecy -- to the extent that developers during my trip to ArenaNet said that they were going to restrict access to each until launch to provide some surprises. As such, I half expected boring questlines, rushed or uninspired zone design, and (horror of horrors) bugged dynamic events. Yet, if anything, the two new zones outdo the existing zones, particularly that of the Azura. For the sake of space, I'll just relate that both zones managed to take potentially stereotypical concepts (in this case, gnomes and woodland elves) and turn them into memorable and fairly unique experiences. The Asura zone's full of the lightweight riddles and gizmo-centered quests that you'd expect from a sciency race; the Sylvari zone, while burdened with a somewhat plodding story, offers a breathtaking look at a young race born from plants.

Pass the Stuffing, Please

Importantly, all zones brim with the important "fluff" I've talked about so much in my recent articles and reviews, and that's a welcome shift in a development environment that flirts with the idea of well-written questlines and engaging cinematics sufficient to satisfy the demands of immersion. The dynamic events and zone-based scaling that set Guild Wars 2 apart already provide this variety in leveling, of course, but even those rest on little else besides constant combat. Pure combat, even when it's good (as in TERA), gets old if that's all you spend your time doing. That's why I was so pleased to find seemingly minor additions such as the new "vistas" that reward explorers with a short, dramatic cutscenes of the surrounding area, somewhat like the view points in the Assassin's Creed Series. That, and I was impressed that it usually takes some effort to get to them.

I was almost ready to give up until I noticed some Asura-sized platforms.

I discovered my first vista point as I was running toward one of Guild Wars 2's dynamic events; at that moment, it struck me as a little more than a quickie screenshot opportunity. All I had to do, I figured, was to make two leaps onto a stone ramp and run up and touch the floating map that served as the objective. Not so. For one, the ramp was but a teaser; once I reached the top, I discovered that the map itself was just out of reach. I could now tell that I was supposed to leap down from a nearby laboratory of sorts, though, so I spent the next few minutes looking for some kind of stairwell inside the building that would take me to the roof. I found none. I was almost ready to give up until I noticed some Asura-sized platforms jutting from the building's outside wall. I carefully climbed them, found myself overlooking my target, leapt down … and missed the first time. After repeating the climb and landing properly the second time, I was treated to a scenic view of the Mayan-like structure from afar.

Hundreds of such points exist in Guild Wars 2 now, and most require the same light thinking as this one did. Those that I've encountered have never been quite so difficult that I felt tempted to use a walkthrough to finish them, but they do provide a somewhat decent response to The Secret World's investigation missions for players wanting to flex their mind a bit. Star Wars: The Old Republic's hidden datacrons offered similar challenges, but Guild Wars 2's vistas trump them through the sheer abundance.

They Should Try This in Wisconsin

But consider this: the most fun I had last weekend was smashing kegs of ale on the heads of my fellow Norns and laughing as they skidded face-first across the surface of Hoelbrak's Lake Mourn. The game was Keg Brawl, a weaponless match celebrating brawn and wit over over wholesale slaughter, and it's a prime example of how much silly minigames can enhance the replayability of a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. The goal is simple: get your team's keg over to the other team's goal while keeping them from reaching your own. Gameplay hinges on keybinds that let you pass the keg, stomp the ice to trip opponents, and even pour beer on the lake's surface to knock your rivals off their feet. It's just fun for the sake of fun, and that makes Tyria seem a little more like a real world. Most importantly, it works. I loved it so much that I was still playing when the server shutdown event began.

Again, I can't provide many predictions about the endgame at this stage, but the variety offered by Guild Wars 2's leveling experience bodes well for repeated playthroughs. The past few weekends have reminded me that the MMORPG leveling experience is at its best when the mind wanders, when the imperative to finish one quest and move onto another shatters at the sight of other players having fun or novel sights. It's much like real life in that way. My favorite commutes to work in my hometown of Chicago are those distract me from my drudging march to my office with a street drummer banging on his buckets or a preacher screaming gloom on a perfect day. Guild Wars 2 captures this feeling of variety among familiar settings like no other MMORPG I've played before. Sure, there will be time next month for gripes and disappointments, for criticisms and nitpicks, but right now, I can't wait to do it all over again, and that's something I haven't said of an MMORPG in a long time.

Spy Guy says:
It's sounding more and more like ArenaNet's got a winner on its hands here, and we're now just over a month from the launch! If you're thinking of getting it, will you be jumping in on launch day, or waiting until things settle down to avoid any Error 37-style frustrations?